Seal for service-cocks.



P. MUELLER. SEAL FOR SERVICE COOKS. APPLICATION rnjnn MAR. 15, 1912.

Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

qs iiiiiib 1 /72/40 Mus/A92" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP MUELLER, or nnca'rua, rn'nmois, ASSIGNOR 'ro H. MUELLER MFG. co'., or

DECATUR, Il LINOIS, A GORPORATION'OF ILLINOIS.

snail ron sEnvIcE-oocks.

Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

- 7 Application filed March 15, 1912. Serial R0. 684,058.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP MUELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Seals for Service-Cocks,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement "in seals or locking means for use on cocks in connection 'with gas and water service, and is shown and described herein asbeing a plied to what isiknown to the trade as loc ing-wing gas cocks, in-which a wing is cast on the cock body and a similar wing on the key for the same. Heretofore these wings have been so made that when the cock is in closed position,'hol es, which are bored in the wings, re ister with each other and thus make it 'possi le to attach a padlock to such a cock by passing the bow of the look through said holes and'thus lock the cock in a closed position, making it impossible to tamper with the same, unless the padlock is maliciously .opened, broken or stolen. This method of locking the gas cocks is expensive,not only because the cost of a good pad lock is nearly equal to that of the I cook itself, but such locks are liable to be practical sealing means opened by persons criminally inclined, and the cock turned on and the gas used without authority or knowledge of the company that furnished the gas or water. This difliculty, however, is overcome by "the present invention as besides locking the cock in closed position, it forms acheap, substantial and tor the cock key, which as soon as the cock is tampered with, or an attempt made to turn'the keyeven slightly the lock and seal i not be replaced by the 0nd who broke it, as this special form of lock ahd seal can be obtained only from those who have authority to operate the cooks. After the cock has once been locked and sealed the key cannot be turned without breaking said member, as it is made of a frangible material and so fastened to the cock that it cannot be removed even by those in authority without breaking it.

This invention, although designed primarily for use on gas cocks and will base described in connection therewith throughout this specification, may with equal advantage be applied to other kinds ofcocks, such as are usedfor regulating the 'fiow of water and oil, and also to other articles and broken and can in other situations than that to which the, specific embodiment herein described" is adapted. It is well known that there are-gas lock wing cock seals of various kinds in use at the presenttime and serving the same purpose as a padlock, but these are objectionable for several reasons. Most of them are quite expensive anddiflicult to. make,

required, as I when these are broken it has been found that they can be easily duplicated by parties desiringto break the seals without authority, and who provide themselves with suitable sealing pliers tate the exact seal and thus it is known that or tools so that they can imithe seal is sometimes broken and made again .with such skill that the cooks have been tampered with a number of times and much gas or other fluid stolen before the theft has been detected.

Another important object of the invention is to do away with the large wings .cast on the cock and the key, and also to eliminate the necessitgy of boring holes in said wings to receive he padlock or seal, as by the present invention small lugs are used instead of the large wings and a considerable saving in material is effected as well as a saving in the cost of boring the holes. in the wings, and a further saving in the cost of padlocks which are unnecessary.

In carrying out the invention, instead of casting relatively large wings on the cockand the key, small projecting lugs are substituted therefor, as noted; above, and when these lugs are alinedonclosingthe cockga locking and sealing member, made of frangible material, is secured to the lugs by a suitable irremovable means, thereby rendering it impossible to disconnect the member and the cockcan only be opened by breakingl said member.

The object of the invention, therefore, is'

to provide a frangible combined lock and q seal member for its intended purposes which shall be cheap and efiicient and which may be easily and quickly applied by the use of a simple tool in a few minutes, and which, when applied, securely locks and seals the parts against movement without breaking said member, which will be difficult and troublesome to duplicate.

This invention will be more readily understood by referring to the following detail description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gas cook with the locking ant sealing member applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the locking and sealing'memberdisconnected from the cock. Fig. 3 is an end view of a cock, the locking and Sealing member and a portion of the cock being shown in section. Fig. 4 is a side view of the upper portion of a cock with the locking and sealing member in position thereon. Fig. 5 is a view of a cock showing a modified form of locking and sealing member applied thereto. Fig. -6 is a perspective view .of the modified type of locking seal used with the cock representedv in Fig. Fig. 7- is a view showing a further modified form of the locking. seal as applied. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the locking seal for the cock illustrated in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a perspective yiew of another type of locking seal.

[Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings,

. the numeral 10 designates the gas cock body,

of well known type, and 11 the-turning key therefor. Projecting laterally from the side of the gas cock and flush with the opening into which the key 11 enters is 2. lug or projection 12 cast on the cock body. A similar but shorter projection 13 of the same width as the lug or projection '12 extends laterally from the key 11 in such position as to aline with the latter lug when the cock is turned to full cut-off position. One of said projections, preferably the one 'numbered 13, has a threaded hole 14 formed in its, outer face for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The projections 12 and 13, when placed in parallelism are secured together, so that neither key, nor "cock body can be turned relatively to each other, by means of a locking and sealing member 15 which, in the in place will break the latter.

the shortness of the lug 13 the legs 16 and present instance, is formed with two parallel legs 16 and 17, spaced apart and connected at the top by. a transverse bar 18. This member is preferably made of castiron or some other frangible material in a single piece which may be easily broken by a hammer when it is desired to turn the key 11 of the cock. Even an attempt to turn the key'with the locking andfiealing member Owing to 17 of the member 15 will, when applied,

straddle the lug 12 only, the transverse bar 18 abutting against the end of the lug 13 as shown. to and sealed on the cock by means of a screw 19 having a weakened portion 20 just below its head or slotted end 21 and threaded. into the transverse bar 18 in post tion to enter the threaded hole 14 in the lug 13. When screwed home the head 21 is broken off below the outer face of the member 15, thus preventing the removal of the screw and sealing the member. When it is desired to cut off gas or other fluid passing through. the cock, the key is turned until the projection 13 on the key is parallel with the projection 19 on the cock. The locking and sealing member 15 is then placed over the projection 12 with the inner'side of the transverse bar 18 abutting against the lug 13, as clearly shown in the drawing, and

the screw 19 turned until its weakened portion 20 is within the outer face of said member. The head of. the screw may then be struck with a hammer which will cause it to break off just ,within the face or side of the locking and sealing member, or a continual turning of the screw driver after the inner end of the screw bottoms in the hole 14, will cause the screw head to break: off as the weakened portion of said screw is not sufiiciently strong to stand the extra strain which may be placed upon it after it has reached its limit of movement. The locking member, therefore, not only-serves as a means for preventing the key being turned but also as a seal,it being practically impossible to remove the member after the head of the screw has been broken off within The locking member 15 is secured the screw hole without breaking said memcure, they being in possession only of persons authorized to use them, the action of said person would be discovered. As a further protection the locking member may beprovided with the monogram, initial or other insignia of the company owning the cock, so that should a new locking member be made. and applied the difference between said locking member and that of the one originally placed on'thc cock will be easily detected. After looking and sealing the cock, if the latter is to be turned on any authorized person may bre'akthe locking and Scaling member with a blow of a hammer or other instrument, or by turning the same general shape" as that previously described, has a 111 25 pro ecting from 1ts rear side or face, the .under surface of which is continuous with the under surface of the transverse bar 18. hen the member is applied to a cock, the lug rests on the lug 12 with its end against the flattened portionof the key. The screw 19 extends through the lug 25 and into the threaded hole 14 in the plug when the member is secured on the cock.

Av further modification of the invention is shown in 'Figs. '7 and 8. In this instance, instead of a single lug or projection 12 on the cock, spaced parallel lugs 1E2 are sub--.

"st-ituted between which the stem 26 of a frangible T shaped locking and sealing mem ber 15 is inserted, the upper end of which stem bears against the outer face offthe lug 1-3 and is fasten'ed thereto by a screw 19 similar to the screw hereinabove described, threaded into the hole 14 in the lug 13. The head 27 of the member 15 extends laterally beneath the lugs 12 and prevents removal of the key from its seat in the cock by taking off the-nut 30 on the bottom of the key. The head 27 may be omitted if desired and the member 15 will still serve as a lock and seal against turning'the key.

This device is easy to manufacture and is very cheap, as the members are produced in known drilling and threading machines. Furthermore the demos 1s easily apphed and large quantities from the same pattern and the screw hole formed therein made on well as easily removed, the only tools being necessary are those always carried by a plumber or other person, namely a hammer and a screw driver,

It is to be understood thatthe form of the lockingmember herein shown is designed particularly for use oncocks, but other forms may be given to said member without departing from the spirit of the invention, and furthermore, it may be used to seal together two or more parts other than a cock.

Having fully described my invention wha I claim new is 1. In combination with a cook body hav ing a projecting lug, and. a cock key having a similar but shorter lug adapted to be brought into parallelism with the lug on the 'cock body, of a frangible locking member adapted to interengage with the lug on said cock body and bear against the shorter lug on the key, and a screw for fastening said similar but shorter lug adapted to be brought into parallelism with the lug on the cock body, of a frangible locking memberinterengaging the long lug and bearing against the outer face of the short lug, and

a screw threaded into a part of saidlocking member and into the short lug, said screw I havinga weakened portion intermediate its ends whereby its head end may be broken off below the face or side of said locking member. l 3. In combination with a cock body having'a projecting lug, and a cock key having a similar but shorter lug adapted to be brought into parallelism with the lug on the cock body, of a frangible U -shaped locking member adapted to straddle the long lug and bear against the outer face of the short lug, and a screw threaded into said locking member and into the short lug to hold said cock parts against relative movement, said screw having a weakened portion immediately below its head whereby said head may be broken ofi' below the face of said locking member after the screw has been driven home. V

4. In combination with a cock body having a projecting lug, and a cock key. having a similar but shorter lug adapted to be brought into parallelism with the lug on the cock body, of a frangible locking member comprising two parallel lugs connected at one end, said member adapted to straddle the longer lug and bear against the shorter lug, and a screw threaded into the connect.- ing portions of said locking member for fastenin'g the same to the key, said screw having a weakened portion near its head whereby the latter may be broken off below the face of the locking member when thescrew has been driven home.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PHILIP MUELLER.

Witnesses WILLIAM R. BIDDLm,

CA'rincmNn E. MoKnowN. 

